Preparing for the comps (also) at the pub

Well, let me clarify that I am not doing all the preparation for my comps at the pub—that would be the worst decision ever, at least for me: I need a quiet place to study, and this is especially true when it comes to an important exam like the PhD comprehensive examination. Simply, yesterday I sent my research proposal to my committee—something like 30 minutes before the deadline, after hours of battling against the computer to make a huge table readable—and today I decided to celebrate with a night at the pub, alone, in front of my computer, preparing the slides for my oral presentation, while a country music duo is playing For what it’s worth followed by Stand by me.

The idea behind this is quite simple: Slide preparation does not require as much concentration as study. Also, slides require you to wake up your artistic side, and preparing them—at least the first, blurry draft—in an environment with live music might be a bit inspirational, after all. So let’s try and see how it goes.

Now I’d better leave the writing of this post and come back to my slides. I’ll write an update below later, when I’m about to leave the pub, commenting on this experience.

… a lot of time later, the update I promised: My computer battery lasted less than expected, I didn’t have the charger with me, and thus this experiment ended quite soon. Overall, I think that I can treat myself with an evening of homework at the pub every now and then, if I feel like doing so, and if the homework I choose to do there does not require a lot of concentration. Oh, and if I can manage the battery of my laptop.

A NOTE: Most of this post was written a few weeks ago, while I was preparing for my comprehensive exam. Now I have finally done it, and I will soon write another post with my comments on this PhD milestone. Stay tuned! 🙂